Rare is the beginning beekeeper who has any appreciation of the importance of good brood combs. In fact when one comes to fully understand all that is represented in the combs within his hives, he is well on toward success.

The comb represents the foundation of the beekeeper's business. The cells composing a brood comb serve not only as storage reservoirs for honey and pollen, but as nurseries in which eggs are laid and young bees are reared. The size and kind of cells will determine the use to which the comb will be put and the sex of the young bees which will develop there. It thus becomes possible for the beekeeper to greatly increase the harvest gathered by the bees by the simple expedient of supervising the kind of combs which they shall build.

The cells in which worker bees are reared are similar in appearance to those serving the same purpose for young drones or males. The difference is only one of size. If all the cells be of worker size, the resulting population of the colony will be producers which will contribute to the prosperity of the hive. The fact that a queen bee mates for life has already been told. The presence of a large number of males, therefore, serves no purpose.

To eliminate this excess burden the beekeeper removes all combs with an excess of drone cells and replaces them with full sheets of foundation.

An examination of the combs in the average apiary will show many that are imperfect. Crooked combs, combs with stretched cells unsuited for the rearing of brood and combs which are not completely built greatly reduce the productive breeding area of the hive. A good brood comb should be attached to the frame at both ends and be built down to the bottom bar. Foundation should only be given to the bees when there is plenty of fresh nectar coming from the fields for it is only at such times that good combs will be built.

Wax is a product of digestion. During the height of summer, when the honeyflow is on, the bees gorge themselves with honey and cluster in dense masses to maintain a high temperature. Fragments of wax soon appear from the wax plates between the segments of the lower side of the abdomen.

It is useless to give foundation to the bees at times when conditions are not favorable for wax secretion for they are unable to build combs otherwise. If the weather be warm during a good honeyflow, wax is produced abundantly and the finest combs are readily built. The wise beekeeper takes occasion to remove his poor combs and replace them with frames containing full sheets of foundation. The productive capacity of the apiary is thus greatly increased at small cost.

Good comb of worker brood built on full sheet of foundation.

One reason why the man who produces extracted honey usually gets so much more than the one who has stored in comb honey sections, is because he can supply plenty of storage room for the honey as it comes in. When the bees get the nectar from the flowers, it is thin and watery and the surplus moisture must be evaporated before the honey can be sealed. When there is a heavy honeyflow it is necessary for the bees to have a large amount of comb surface available if they are to store the maximum quantity. One may compare the nectar as it comes from the flowers to the juice of the sorghum or sugar cane as it comes from the mill. The juice of the cane must be boiled down to make syrup and it requires far smaller pans to hold the finished product than are needed for the raw sap.

The wise beekeeper keeps a good supply of drawn combs in reserve for the honeyflow and when the bees are rushing to and from the field he piles plenty of supers of comb on the hives to hold the nectar. In a good honeyflow the bees will often fill a hive body of combs within a few hours. Sometimes several supers will be filled within a few days.